Direction-indicator



E. F KIESS'LING.l DIRECTION INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED AUG.9, 1920.

Patented I 00d 4, 1921.

pif/@ways 5 turn and -lowing is a specification;-'-v

EDMUND r. xxnssnuio, oncexmnn, Canacintra nmne'xfleiv-inlcaron.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 4, 192i,

Application illqd Auguste, 1920. Serial No. 402,160.

To all whom it may concern.'

v Be itknown that I, Eimmm F..,KInssLINo,.

a citizen of the United States, and' a resident of Oakland, county'ofI Alameda, State.

of California, have invented.- new and use- *ful Direction-Indicator,jof lii'clithe foldirect/ion The present invention .Y

indicators for motor and the like vehicles and has' reference more particularly toy an improved semaphore structure which may be mounted upon the vehicle and manipu- .lated by an occupant, preferabl the driver thereof, for convenienti and e ectivelv indicating an execution o a right or left hand a stop.

' At the present time there are various types of direction indicatorsy i'n use but most of these indicators are either so complicated as to make their prohibitive or else fall Ashort of meeting the requirements for a practical solution of theA problems involved.

'l'.henagaim there are more or less fixed Vrules `andregulations.which must 'be coinlied with in mostcities concerning these indicators and many of them fail to operate in accordance witlisuch regulations'.

AIt is the primary object of this invention to offer not only a most efficient and prac-v tical indicator but at th'e `saine time onev which will comply with the universal signal re lationst.

` n the accom embodiment o the';invention is lustrated and will be as a basis of. illustration in the "Fig 2 and Ei s. 7, 8 and 9 are-detail of a cross-section o the semaphore arm.

Referring to the drawinein detail; it is proposed` to mount the' indicator upon the vehicle inf a convenient piace, such as on. `the side of tho'wind shield frame A by the means of the bracket Bf A suitable housi is represented as comprising a chan* neled rame having a back portion to anying drawing a referred which the bracket i3l is attached The front of the housing, of course, is open to for the i block 7 which is confined between the Side v i plates of the housing with freedom of rote tion in the bearings'thus provided.

Attached to the arm 6 so that the same ma be raised or mani ulated to its various 8, the same passing .over a roller 9 to a lo cation adjacent the 'drivers seat where its end is attached .te a control handle 10 after being passed around s, second roller l1, the. control handle 10 being pivoted to plate or the like l2, having a notched segment 13 with the notches therein, namely 14, 15, and 16, representing a stop, right turn and left turn respectively. The handle is provided with a roller 17 which renders the same phore arm held in the elected position to.

indicate the move to he executed oy the driver.

, One ofthe salient features ofv the invention resides in the novel and highly desir able construction of the semaphore erin which construction enters into the arrange ment as a most important factor in the cient operationo'f the device. To indicate from one side of the vehicle that the same will execute a turn op osite to that on which the device is carried it is neessary the semaphore arm be capable of afstiuniinga position clearly indicating such a Lturn and notconfusing it with other positions which includes the stop position; therefore it is preferred and also required by conventional 'regulations that the right hand turn or the left if the device is mounted on the right' ofthe vehicle tie-designated by n vertical o at least a substantially vertical/position the arm; whereas the opposite turn, for

stance to the leit,.he represented oy a horimy zontal position et the arm and with the stop' indicated by a downward slant of the arci@ To prevent confusion between a stop and either one of the to positively independent indie fuish esta, separate and een have el construct the seijoapliorf t th or Stop je appear and t: es ly r either the nennt or the rear of the turns and at vthe same time To accomplish this i'eature I contemplate iis a preferred construction to employ a drop slide 18, on both sides ot' the scmalihore a1 m, a

which will consist primarily of a rod eX vtending longitudinally of the arm, having bearings as atI 19 and 20 arranged to'permit the slide to move freely so that when turned upwardly it will expose the word Stop see Fig. 2;

moves in being swung,f to any one ot its active positions-and when returning to an inactive position within the housing.

.lt/is preferred to do away with springs or the like and in this construction it is to he noticed that the semaphore arin will return to an inactive po. ing by its own weight. The .movement 'of the slide 18 is also ei'i'ecti-id in the like manner. that is to sayl the weight of the same wili normally maintain the slide folded, so as to lie against the arm, at least, so long as the arm is either in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 or when. in a horizontal position as shown in Fig'. l. dust as Soon as the arm is lowered to an extent whereliy the ears 23 contact with the plates 2l' and 22 the wiping action at this point will operate and turn the slide up tc expose. 'the stop' signal.

An arrow or the like character is provided on cach side of the larm and the outside of the slide is painted to effect an uninterrupted representation ol' the same so that when the stop signal is not exposed the outlinel of the arrow will appear distinct. However, when the slide is turned up to expose the stop signal that part of the arrow between the tail and head will be obliterated, as shown in"llig, 2

To lfirmly confine the semaphore arm within the housingand prevent the same from rattlino trom the vibration of the vehicle a' pair ol"- opposcd plates 24 and are arranged withinthe housing and between which the arm will recede. means of clearly distinguishing the indicatingv plosi tions of the semaphore arm-at night a light source may be provided within the l'iousing as at 26. with the lead wire 27 establishing a circuit to the same from the battery or other generating source of the vehicle. In this connection the lens .9.8 is employed toshow a rod light from the rear of the vehicle.

.l claim:

l. In a direction indicator, an indicating arm adapted to assume various active indi- *descriptive indicating the word LStop" being printed painted or otherwise displayed on the under tion within the houseating positions, and means for displaying a.

corresponding to one vof the direction indicating positions of the arm and adapted to positively distinguish said position from the other .positions that the arm is capable of assuming.

2. In a direction indicator, an indicating l arm, a housing adapted to confine said arm when in an inactive position, means for moving said arm selectively to oneor more active direction indicating positions,' fand means on the varm adaptedv to coperate with means on the housing for displayingr a descriptive 'character on the armto distinguish one of said positions from the otheifpositions which the arm is capable of assuming; l

3. In a direction indicator, an indicating arm, a housing adapted to confine said arm when in an inactive position, means formovl ing said arm selectivelyy toA one or more active direction ,indicating positions, and means on the armr adapted to coperate with means on the housing vfor displaying a descriptive character on the arm to'distinguish one ofsaid positions from the other positions which the arm is capable of assuming, comprising a slide on the arm adaptedto be Vautomatically actuated touncover alportion of the face area of the arm to show a character displayed in Said area.

4. In a direction indicator, an indicating arm, ahousingadapted to confine said arm when in an inactive position, means .for moving said arm .selectively to one or more, ac-A ti ve direction indicating positions, and means on the arm adapted to cooperate with means on the housing for displaying a descriptive character on the arm to distinguish one of `said positions from the other positions which the arm is capable of assuming, comprisin a slide onthe arm adapted to be automatically actuated to uncover a portion of the face area of the armto show a character displayed in saidvarea, an actuating device for said slide including means carriedby the arm and adapted to have ay wiping contact with means on' the housing for turning the slide about a hinged mounting which connects the same to thearm. f f n A In combination with the semaphore arm of a direction indicator which is adapted 'to assume various active direction indicating positions, means .on said arm for describing one of said positions comprisi-nga descriptive character, a slide adapted to obscure the character when the arm is 'in any other active position other than that. corresponding to the character, and means adapted to. automatically move said slide to expose said character when the a'm assumes a direction indicating position corresponding to that of the character.

EDMUND F. KinssLiNG.

character on the arm 

